Jean Baptiste Ste. Gemme dit Beauvais was born at Kaskaskia to Jean Baptiste Beauvais and Marie Louise Lacroix. Jean Baptiste was one of nine sons and five daughters born to the couple. Jean (the father) had moved from Montreal to the Illinois territory where he became one of the richest men, and his sons followed him into business.
Jean Baptiste married Marie Therese Boucher de Mombrun de LaSoudrias on January 29, 1770, in Kaskaskia, Randolph, Illinois Territory. It was reported that he signed up for service in 1776, but he is recognized for providing material aid and for public service. He served as a magistrate 1781-1782 and in 1787, he and his family moved to the west side of the Mississippi River.
Jean Baptiste’s wife Marie died on April 30, 1807, in Ste. Genevieve. He remarried to Genevieve Pencheren Huberdeau. The following are the children of Jean Baptiste: Bartholomew Beauvais (married Marie LaSouce); Vital Beauvais (married Marie Therese Pratte); Augustin Beauvais (married Felicite Desile Leclere); Jean Baptiste Beauvais (married Marie Louise Calliot); Marie Therese St. Gemme Beauvais (married Bashchal Sauver Deutchemendy); Julie Beauvais (married Basile Misplais); Marie Louise Beauvaise (married Louis Bolduc); Constance Beauvais; and Eleanor Beauvais (married 1st Antoine Pratte, married 2nd Joseph Alhanse DuBreuil Villars).
Several other children were born but did not survive to adulthood.
In what is today Ste Genevieve, Jean Baptiste built a home using the post in the earth or “peteaux-en-terre” method. The home overlooks le Grand Champ, Ste. Genevieve’s communal agricultural field that once sustained the entire village. This home still stands and is known as the Beauvais-Amoureaux House in the Ste. Genevieve National Park Site.
Jean Baptiste St. Gemme Beauvais died on July 9, 1833, and is buried at Memorial Cemetery in Ste. Genevieve under the name Jean Baptiste St. Gemme.
Compiled by Vera McCullough, Louisiana Purchase Chapter NSDAR and Pamela Johnson, John Guild Chapter NSDAR
Sources:
Wiki treehttps://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Beauvais-124
American Revolutionary War Patriots Buried in Missouri
https://mossar.org/french-militia-patriots-sainte-genevieve-missouri/
Find a Grave: Revolutionary War Soldiers and Patriots Buried in Missouri
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/43141394/jean_baptiste-st_gemme
Beauvais-Amoureaux House – National Park Site (see below)
https://visitstegen.com/places/beauvais-amoureux-house-nps-site/
